The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1887-12-19

pchucut OF non -OHlclal sources, ana, uDnaDpllv.
oy the iault or an obsolete and pedagoglc sys-
tenn, there is reason to believe that the official
reports will underrate the extent of the damage
to the country and the destruction of life.
All that can be positively stated is that the
sudden flood broke down about &c, 900 lineal feet
OF embankment on the southern side of the
accursed river at a place not far from kai-fung-
IN, and that through the enormous gap NOV
ing mass of water twelve feet high poured over
and covered the country Had the northern
bank been broken the food would have reached
Tlentsin, 400 miles distant, and might have de-
stroyed it, surrounded it is now by wide and
deep lakes of the food waters from the Pei-ho.
So far it is uncertain whether the Hoang-ho
has reoccupied its old bed; on the contrary, 1t
seems more notwithstanding to the vague
information we obtan-that the waters have
rather spread themselves over the lands which,
1t must be remem bered. at lower levels on
the southern than on the northern bank. and
In consequence a large part of the low grounds
of Anhui have been flooded. devastated and
ruined.
foundations of the Hoang-ho are more injur
ious to land than the floods of most other rivers.
The waters of the Hoang no. though. of course,
containing in solution much alluvIal SOIL, also
contain undue quantity of sand or stony
detrltuS The overfows OF the Nile and I angtZe,
and. to take smaller but nearer instance, OF
the Pei-ho, are fertilizing, as the sediment de-
posted forms rich soil, and. after flooding.
heavy crops can be grown. But such IS not the
case with the Hoang-ho Its floods are de-
structive, the waters are overladen with sand,
and the grounds that have been inundated be-
come barren. &c. in fact. the floods of the ell
low river calamitous at the time, and infiics
irreparabe losses
dry from 1887 until now, it is possible some good
might have arisen in the future out of the ills
now done. double outlet to the sea would
have enabled the storm and snow waters to get
away. On the other hand. the bed of the former
course is in many places considerably above the
level of the adjoining country. SO that unless the
banks always in good order the districts
near will be in continual danger, the more espe-
c1aly as from the unusual quantity OF silt con-
tanned in the stream shoals or banks must form
continually and ohstruct free flow. The quanti-
ty of silt in solution is vast that at thirty to
forty miles distance from the shore. in the deep
indentatIou of the coast between Chefoo ana
Taku, soundings that fifty years ago gave forty
feet now show but eighteen.
Ever since the days OF the great Emperor u,
of hOnored memory, whose benefcent reign was
some 2. 300 years B. c., the Yellow river has
been a perennial curse to China, and, notwith-
standing the countless sums sauandered on it
for oyer 4, 900 years. and the ipcalculable work
done By many scores of millions of men, the
river is as destructive now as at any previous
time, and, in fact judging from the accounts
before it seems that this last outbreak is the
most extensive and calamltous that has ever oc-
Cured, and the amount of injury done to the
districts now under water and utterly destroyed,
and the vast areas of ground that will-if ever
the waters subside-become barren waste is in
calculabie.
The real question to be debated now is,
whether the mighty river, which is $500 miles
long, can be regulated. made useful. and trans
formed into a stream navigabe, convenient fer
tiZing. and benefcents
We believe that the Yellow river be
changed from a curse bearing to q benevolent
stream. whose banks can be made to support in
security many millions of prosperous agricult
wrists, who will be able without fear to till their
fertile fields.
The transformation can not be made by engi-
neering science. Hundreds Of miles of solid en-
bankment may be raised. but, like the cyclopean
they will become useless. The river may once
more forsake its present bed, which it has occu-
pied for fifty years, and may revert awhile to
its previous course, but sudden change,
arbitrary, strenuous, and not TO be guarded
against, may turn the river to its still more
ancient course, which was not far south OF the
Pei-ho, and is still recognizable.
Nor will dredging help. The processes are too
slow. that many wears must elapse before any
radical effect is made upon the river course. and
in the meanwhile the stream may take q differ
ent and diverging direction in consequence of
some local accident such as the breakage of
bank at particular point, or the formation or
which cannot be foreseen, might cause diver
sions by reason of which the costly labors
of many years might be at once nulifed.
But there is one simple cure thorough or
eanc easy of application, beneficient in its pro-
cessos of natural development, and that can not
fail; a that the i'm perial and provincial gov
ernments can adopt with the means they now
possess.
This infallible cure is to afforest the empire
a complete scale.
The remedy propose, quick in its opera
ton and permanent in its healing effects as it
would be, is simple, fear, to commend
itself to the Chinese government, or to the
syndicates that want to profit by the recent
disaster.
If once tree planting is decreed vast and
national scale. the subsidiary details will be
found to be free from complication.
The broken banks must be restored and in
various isolated places engineering operations
will be required for the repair OF the Yellow
river. But essentially the cure not an enein-
eering business and the engineering outlays
should not be of serious amount. The real rem
edy is what we declare it to be-forestry. and
for that the necessary OUTLAWS for initiation in
volve no loss. On the contrary, every tree
planted will of itself in ten years treble quad
ripple in vaue-the earth finds all the
tenance-and years roll on, the soil of China
will be again covered with rich humus. and nat
ure. if unthwarted by man in her wise and
beautiful economies, will provide woods that
will enrich the empire. clear and regulate the
rverine system, ameliorate the climate, fertilize
the ground. and render the farmer. now harassed
or ruined either by flood or drought, safe in his
lab